This invention relates generally to a firearm, and more particularly to an electronic firearm including a biometric skin sensor.
Manufacturers have recently incorporated electronic circuitry in firearms to improve their performance and reliability. One area of particular interest in firearm improvement using electronics is to prevent the use of firearms by unauthorized persons such as children or other non-owners.
A method of preventing unauthorized use is the incorporation of a fingerprint identification device with the firearm. Fingerprint identification systems generally are known in the electronics industries. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/625,688, filed Jul. 26, 2000 and owned by assignee of the present invention is directed to an authorization module including a fingerprint detector incorporated into the firearm. The fingerprint detector requires a user to momentarily place a finger tip over the detector for scanning and thereby determining that whether the user is authorized to use the associated firearm. In other words, these fingerprint detectors typically require the user to perform an additional step of placing a finger tip over the fingerprint detector before the user can grip the firearm and discharge it. Moreover, optoelectronic finger reading systems typically require pressing a finger against the reading apparatus. It is common for a user to be required to repeatedly withdraw the finger and put it back several times until the system comparing a prerecorded image of the user""s fingerprint with the swiped fingerprint to make a valid comparison. The additional time spent in performing the identification step before gripping and using the firearm can place the user in jeopardy if an emergency requires quick discharge of the firearm.
Further, frequent mistakes exist in conventional fingerprint recognition methods which are due to an inability to keep the finger at the same pressure against an optoelectronic reader during prerecording and actual recognition sessions. The deformation of a fingerprint in both cases is generally not repeatable even with the use of very sensitive recognition algorithms. In sum, variation of pressure causes unrepeatable deformation of a fingerprint and in turn difficulties in identification of the same finger.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide an electronic firearm that avoids the above-mentioned drawbacks.
In a first aspect of the present invention, an electronic firearm comprises a barrel assembly and a handle assembly coupled to the barrel assembly. The handle assembly includes a grip portion defining a cavity and at least one opening disposed generally at a rear side of the grip portion, and a biometric sensing device disposed within the cavity and aligned with the at least one opening of the grip portion for scanning the skin of a portion of the user""s hand opposing the opening to determine whether the user is authorized to discharge the electronic firearm.
In a second aspect of the present invention, an electronic firearm comprises a barrel assembly and a handle assembly coupled to the barrel assembly. The handle assembly includes a grip portion defining a cavity and at least one opening disposed generally at a rear side of the grip portion at a lower location along the grip portion to oppose the palm of the user""s hand, and a biometric sensing device disposed within the cavity and aligned with the at least one opening of the grip portion for scanning the palm of the user""s hand opposing the opening to determine whether the user is authorized to discharge the electronic firearm.
In a third aspect of the present invention, an electronic firearm comprises a barrel assembly and a handle assembly coupled to the barrel assembly. The handle assembly includes a grip portion defining a cavity and at least one opening disposed generally at a rear side of the grip portion at an upper location along the grip portion to oppose the web area of the user""s hand, and a biometric sensing device disposed within the cavity and aligned with the at least one opening of the grip portion for scanning the web area of the user""s hand opposing the opening to determine whether the user is authorized to discharge the electronic firearm.
An advantage of the present invention is that the electronic firearm performs a biometric scan while the user""s hand is in a natural gripping position for discharging the firearm.
A second advantage of the present invention is that the biometric sensing device is incorporated within the firearm so as to provide a compact firearm.
A third advantage of the present invention is that the additional step of swiping a fingertip across a biometric sensing device is eliminated.
A fourth advantage of the present invention is that the biometric sensing device can be incorporated at various locations along the grip portion of the firearm.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in the light of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.